I have a question about Rally Novice A vs. Rally Novice B regulations.

I have never shown/titled a dog in an AKC Obedience event. Touzie has never been titled in an AKC Obedience event. Therefore we can show in Rally Novice A.
The Rally Novice A Class
"To be eligible for entry in this class, dogs may not have won an AKC Rally Novice (RN) title or any AKC Obedience title prior to the close of entries. A handler must own the dog entered or be a member of the owner’s household or immediate family.
The handler may not have previously handled any dog that has earned an AKC Rally title or any AKC Obedience title. A person may enter more than one dog in this class."

The complication....

I would like to show my mother's dobe, Rexy, in Rally too. Rex has his CDX, so he cannot show in Rally Novice A. My mother is the one who put the CDX title on him. If I take Rex in Rally Novice B for a couple legs (and not title him in RN before Touzie), will that ruin my chances of showing Touzie in A? The rules do not really specify.

The Rally Novice B Class
"Any dog may be entered in this class until a qualifying score in the Rally Advanced class is earned. The owner or any other person may handle dogs in this class. A person may enter more than one dog in this class. No dog may be entered in both Rally Novice A and Rally Novice B at any one trial."

Touzie and I have been training/going to fun matches for over a year, but not had time to actually compete (we are also currently in Canada). I'll be back in the States this Spring and wanted to compete with both Touz and Rex at the same venue. If it's going to be a huge issue, I guess Rexy will have to wait. He wants to have fun in Rally too!!

Last edited by bt.touzie; 03-06-2011 at 11:23 AM..
Reason: Long post, hard to catch all my typos!

You can show your dog in Rally Novice A because he has no obedience titles and you have never titled a dog in obedience or rally. And,

You can show your Mom’s dog in Rally Novice B. You can show both dogs in these perspective classes at the same show.

If you are showing an obedience titled dog in RNB and another dog in RNA you may get questions regarding this – but just explain the RNB dog is your Mom’s and you have never shown before in anything.

If you are showing your Mom’s dog at one show in RNB and then showing your other dog in RNA you are likely to get questions from people.

Should you title your Mom’s dog in Rally Novice B prior to your Rally Novice A dog titling, any entries that you have out for your Rally Novice A dog where the entries have not closed, you will need to move those entries from Rally Novice A to Rally Novice B.

Diane Schultz

American Kennel Club
Executive Field Representative
Tracking, Obedience & Rally

I'll have to be very clear on their entries and be sure Rex is not titled in RN before Touzie. I think Rexy will enjoy it

I wanted to update the thread in case anyone else finds themselves in this unusual situation. Apparently, my question caused a stir among AKC field representatives, so they had to have a meeting about the meaning of "The handler may not have previously handled any dog that has earned an AKC Rally title or any AKC Obedience title."

In the end, they decided to take the rule literally. If I handle Rex in any Rally or OB event I cannot enter my Touzie in Rally Novice A or Novice Obedience Class A, despite the fact that I was not the one to title Rex in OB. I would have to enter Touzie in Class B. I really just wanted to enter him in ONE Rally class this Spring for fun, but he'll just have to wait for Touzie and I to get through Rally and regular OB Novice classes.